Tag: blog

end of #JusJoJan26

I don’t have enough brain to manage Stream of Consciousness Saturday this time, but I will do a final Just Jot It January post.

I’m relieved to have made it through the month posting every day. I wish I could say that I will continue to do so but I know that I can’t manage it. I’ve also got a bunch more medical tests and appointments coming up in February, for which I’m grateful, but they also take time and energy.

Sending thanks to Linda for convening Just Jot It January once again and to the blogging community participants who have contributed prompts and posts to the effort. I’m honored to be in your (virtual) company.

And, as always, thanks to all of you who took time to visit Top of JC’s Mind. Leisure time and attention are in short supply for many of us and I appreciate your including me in your day or evening.

(Even though, it’s the final day, you can still join in the fun of Just Jot It January. Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/30/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2026-daily-prompt-for-jan-31st/.)

commenting on Ellen Morris Prewitt’s blog

Today, I was reading the newsletter from Ellen Morris Prewitt, an author whom I met through her blog. Ellen’s newest book, When We Were Murderous Time-Traveling Women, will be published on April 1, 2026, so, if you follow her blog, you will get all the breaking news on that, such as when pre-orders will be starting.

I thought for today’s jot, I would re-purpose a comment that I wrote on Ellen’s Jan. 19th post about bombings and other hate crimes:
“Young men seem to be especially vulnerable to being radicalized against those of a different race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc. It’s horrifying, but also, as you say, Ellen, has its roots in our society. Unfortunately, in our time, white Christian nationalism has become more overt which, I think, makes hate and violence seem somehow acceptable to some. I think, though, that, for the majority, it is bringing home the reality of where hate leads and inspiring them to speak out, demonstrate, pray, or whatever mode they choose to oppose it.”

I hope you will visit Ellen’s blog and follow along. She is a fascinating writer with a compelling family and personal history to share.
*****
Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/20/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-20th-2026/

blog update

Back when I was first blogging here at WordPress, they would prepare a year-end summary. As someone who is (in)famously sloppy at checking stats, I appreciated this snapshot of the year.

Unfortunately, without the handy-dandy report, my own post will be more haphazard and less prettily formatted, but I’ll give it a try.

I put out 135 posts in 2025, fewer than average for me, but more than I thought I had, given that my health situation was limiting my brainpower and energy. The average word count was 248, which is lower than usual, too.

My WordPress stats page lists 1,797 subscribers but my total on my site is 2,180, which includes people who follow me on other platforms, such as my Facebook page. Over 1,100 subscribers receive my posts via email, although 80-90% are not opened. Still, I often forget that what shows up as views for each post is only people who visit my site directly, not those who read posts by email. I often am surprised when in-person friends know a bit of news before I see them because I forget that I mentioned it in a post!

One thing that really surprised me was the “Number of Shares” box on my status page. It says that there have been 36,000 shares on Bluesky, which does not seem even vaguely possible! Maybe some bot got ahold of some posts and spread them around?

I am, as always, grateful for all my readers, visitors, and commenters. I’m also mindful of the privilege of being able to continue blogging, however imperfectly, given my health challenges. There has been some news on that front that I may be able to share later this week or next.

It will probably be more than jot…

Speaking of which, please join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/13/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-13th-2026/

One-Liner Wednesday: Thanksgiving

As we here in the United States are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I’m giving thanks for all the people who visit my blog, especially those who have stuck with me despite my irregular posting as I deal with personal and family health issues. ❤

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/11/26/one-liner-wednesday-what-did-you-do-yesterday/. Also, congratulate Linda on the publication of her new book, which came out yesterday!

on (not) becoming a political blog

Vote for Democracy #30

Those who are visiting here because of my participation in Linda’s Just Jot It January would be forgiven if they thought that Top of JC’s Mind is primarily a political blog.

I swear that it is and will remain an eclectic blog with personal, health, poetry, climate, music, and political posts, along with anything else at the top of my mind.

It’s just that, given where the United States is right now, political issues are smack in front of us all the time.

ALL THE TIME!

I had started a series well before the November, 2024 election called Vote for Democracy ’24 and was numbering the main posts that were part of the series. I’ve now renamed the category Vote for Democracy and am subtitling the posts with the number. (At least for now. Subject to change.)

As expected, the Trump administration has begun its term with a flurry of executive orders, most of them straight from the Project 2025 playbook. I’ve been heartened to see major non-profit organizations and state attorneys general filing legal challenges to the executive orders in an attempt to shield as many people and worthwhile programs as possible.

There is no way that I could address the huge range of issues here. I’ve decided that my role will be to highlight certain issues to raise awareness. It will be my little drop in the ocean of love, protection, and respect for people and planet. (Please forgive the very mixed metaphor. I’m super tired today.)

I hope you will drop in from time to time to see what is top of mind for me. I also hope that you will keep on reading truthful sources of news and information. I promise that I will post information that I can verify and will correct any errors that I may make. Of course, when opinions are expressed, they are my own but have been grounded in facts.

The truth matters.

One-Liner Wednesday: Just Jot It January 2025

Linda G. Hill of Life in Progress is bringing us Just Jot It January for the 11th year and you are all invited to join by linking your January posts to her blog each day!

To participate in One-Liner Wednesday and/or Just Jot It January, visit here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/01/01/one-liner-wednesday-jusjojan25-the-1st-happy-new-year/

11

Top of JC’s Mind is now 11 years old.

I observed my tenth anniversary by finally claiming my own domain as joannecorey.com and with a long, reflective post.

This year’s post is decidedly low-key, in part due to my health issues that are limiting my brainpower and energy.

I’ve also been struggling to deal with complications that occurred when I upgraded my plan to have my own domain last September. The behind-the-scenes wrangling finally got resolved but I really need to choose a theme with newer features so that I can keep the blog’s look while also having my author site pages display with my photo. I really like the clean, easy-on-the-eyes look of my current theme, Twenty Sixteen, but it doesn’t allow me to have a separate look for my blog. Someday, I’ll have the time, brain, and tenacity to get it sorted, but that time isn’t now.

I’m not someone who views their stats very often, but my blogaversary seems a good time. My current all-time views number is 70,855 with 39,647 visitors from 129 countries for 2,013 posts. There are 1,933 subscribers.

Whether you are a regular reader of Top of JC’s Mind or someone who just happened upon this post, I’m grateful that you are here. I want to send a special thank you to my handful of ever-faithful readers and commenters. You know who you are! I appreciate your support over the long haul, especially in the challenging times where my posting has been sporadic and/or mired in a single, all-consuming narrative.

So, on to year 12! Here’s hoping for some better health in the coming year so I can get more writing done.

In gratitude,
Joanne Corey of Top of JC’s Mind

the tussle continues

I’m still in a back-and-forth with WordPress about how to get my author site and blog configured correctly.

You may have had trouble accessing my latest posts yesterday due to a change they made. I’ve reverted back to the prior settings, which aren’t optimal but are functional.

If you missed yesterday’s post, you can find it here.

in transition

Just a quick note that I am working on re-configuring my author site and blog.

I’m in a bit of a tangle with WordPress support in how to actually implement what I thought I had done when I acquired joannecorey.com as my custom domain last September.

For now, please note that what had been the main menu items for Top of JC’s Mind are now in a drop-down menu. I’m not a fan of drop-down menus but I haven’t yet figured out how to retain the prior look of topofjcsmind.wordpress.com under the joannecorey.com domain.

If I can’t figure it out, you may have to put up with some more finagling in the coming days. I’m hoping not to have to change my theme because it suits me and is, I think, easy to read.

Stay tuned…

Recording of Fall Forever

(Photo credit: The Fenimore Art Museum website)

The recording of the staged reading of Eva Schegulla’s Fall Forever is now available on the Fenimore Art Museum YouTube channel for a limited time. It will likely be taken down mid-June 2024.

I wrote about the staged reading here. I know through reading Eva’s blog, Ink in My Coffee, that she has already completed revisions that grew from the staged reading and that she is submitting it for fully staged production. I’ll be sure to keep you posted when it debuts so that you can attend if you are in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, enjoy the recording for the next month!